Last Shot at Love
by Raining Dreams
Summary: It appears that Rachael's heart has finally given up on waiting for Jimmy and has taken an interest in another boy. In a lucky chance, however, Dr. Agasa thinks he's found the cure to Conan's state. Is it too good to be true? Probably.
1. File 1

**Last Shot at Love**

**Author's Notes**: Hiya. I know everyone hates me for previously disappearing off the face of the earth with my two other fics. I know.... leave me alone. I just didn't feel like writing any more. Deal with it XD

This fic will probably be the same, too. Especially considering highschool is under two weeks away and I think the medication they're giving me for my ear infection is what's giving me the oomf to write this.

This is my first Case Closed/Detective Conan fic (obviously) so no flaming. I haven't been watching the show from the beginning and will get my first Detective Conan manga tomorrow. Please be polite when correcting my mistakes in your reviews. I am also aware that the backbone of my plot is beyond cliche, and _again_, deal with it. If my fic is too fluffy in parts for your liking, don't read it. Don't flame me. My fic will be quite original, so just be patient. Thanks a bunch in advance!

Your lovely, manipulative anthy,

-Bunny

P.S. Hush. I know I'm using the American names. Too bad...I'm far too lazy to use my knowledge of the Japanese language to make this fic seem more...real.

**Disclaimer:** No. I don't own Case Closed, Detective Conan, or any of the characters besides the ones I've obviously made up (I.E. "Lover boy", etc) . But I will. Mark my words. I WILL.

****

**Last Shot at Love, File 1**

It was a nippy day in early March. You knew Spring was just around the corner, but it was still cold enough to rival the temperatures in the middle of the winter. It was on this particular day that Rachael had decided to bring Conan along to her karate lesson. She thought he would find it interesting, as it was the practice before a tournament the following day, so it would be particularly vigorous. She smiled, humming a tuneless song, the gloves that Jimmy had given her for Christmas keeping her hands nice and toasty. The girl periodically stopped, tightening Conan's scarf and adjusting his hat...she had really take her job as his temporary "mother" quite seriously. "Now Conan... you need to stay out of the way. The last thing I need is for you to get hit... That would be a trip to the hospital for sure." she reminded. For the umpteenth time. In all honesty, Conan was literally having to bite his tongue to keep from snapping out a comment along the lines of, ' I know, Rachael! I'm not stupid!!' Honestly. Treating him like a child... Of course, that's when he realized he WAS a child and she was really only doing it for his own good. They reached her school building, pushing the doors open. The warm air was a welcome feeling on their now pink faces.

Conan smiled, looking around. It was nice to be back in his old highschool. It still had the old smell to it, too. Some things never changed. Rachael led him upstairs, placing him firmly on a bench and informing him not to move, returning shortly after clad in her uniform. There were a series of other students in the room, most familiar to Conan from his Jimmy days. _NORMAL days,_ he reminded himself. He swung his feet absently, watching group warm up with mild interest, before something caught his eye. Someone he'd never seen before. And he was talking to Rachael. Jealousy bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He didn't know why he suddenly felt such resentment...maybe it was because he was in this particular body and had no way of telling this older boy to keep his hands off Rachael. His blushed furiously. He was going to have to square with his crush on her one of these days...just not today. The two laughed and he felt even more hate fill him..._Time to put this body to use..._ The boy jumped up, walking carefully to the mat and falling over a foot from someone who had been kicking. Instantly he began to wail.

His plan worked, and his caretaker walked over with a concerned look. "Conan! I told you to stay on the bench!!" The 'cause' of Conan's crying was also scolding and cooing 'awww's to him.("I didn't even feel my foot touch him!" she proclaimed to Rachael in an apologetic way.) The teen stayed with her charge until class started. He smirked to himself, feeling emense pride in the fact that he had pulled off his stunt. He resumed watching with a small ammount of interest, mentally commentating to himself for entertainment. Soon enough, the class had ended, and Rachael took to bundling Conan back up, wrapping herself in various layers of clothing as well. That's when, as Conan dubbed him as of that moment, "Loverboy" showed up.  
  
"Hey Rache!" He said in a smooth voice. (_Hey!! How come HE calls her "Rache"?! I'm the only one who ever calls her that!!_ were Conan's current thoughts.) "Want a ride home? It's cold out there. Wouldn't want you and the kid here to get frostbite." He wasn't ugly; far from it. He had dark brown hair, and chocolate eyes. His skin wasn't quite tan, but wasn't pale, and his build reminded Conan distinctly of his own when he was normal. Overall handsome. Not quite up to Serena's standards of "hot", but he could definatly pose as a threat to Jimmy.

The girl smiled. "Sure. Let me finish wrapping Conan up... I don't want him to catch a cold." Conan's stare was so cold he was suprised that the boy's nose didn't fall off. Loverboy lead them to his car, opening the door for Rachael and situating Conan in the backseat for her before driving them off. It was an old car, for sure, but it ran smootly enough. Conan frowned and scowled the whole way home, staring at the driver's constant glancing at Rachael whenever they came to a stop. _He has no chance. Rachael wouldn't date anyone like him,_ he thought bitterly. On a slightly more concerned note the thought of, _Or would she?!_ took it's predisesor's place. They reached the Moore household , and Loverboy (who was apparently named "Joey") waved them off, beaming. Rachael smiled broadly, inserting her housekey into the door, humming the same tuneless song from earlier. It seemed as if Conan's worst fears were soon to be realized; Rachael had taken a love interest in this clown.

Richard was inside, craning over some papers on his desk, massaging his temples. Apparently he'd come to yet another "wall" in a case. Rachael went to make Conan something to eat and he took to staring over Detective Moore's shoulder. Something about the cause of death of some 7-year-old. The child smirked. It was simple. She clearly was strangled to death before being beaten for good measure. That's why there wasn't that much blood clotted over her cuts and the bruises weren't darker. He'd give that information descreetly to Richard later, though. He had bigger fish to fry. Namely figureing out if those two were just friends or if Rachael really was interested. Not to mention if it was the latter of the two, he needed to figure out how to douse that little spark before anything happened. He left the room, taking his thinking to the couch. He felt sort of bad about being this determined to get this Joey character away from Rachael. But he just wouldn't be able to stand it if they started dating. Although he did want Rachael happy. He heard her cry sometimes at night, and he could only guess it was because she was feeling lonely. After all, her best friend of nearly twelve years just dissapeared one day to work on some mystery without so much as a goodbye. At least, that was what she thought, and Conan had no intentions of making her think differently, although at times he was sorely tempted to tell her everything.

Especially when she cried.

He _HATED_ it when she cried.

Rachael interupted his thoughts by pestering him into the kitchen for tomato soup and grilled cheese. As he nibbled and sipped at his meal, he continued to think. Maybe rather than trying to come between them, he should encourage it. He had no clue as to when his body would be back to normal, if it would EVER be the same, and if he saw Rachael cry again, he swore he'd break down too. Of course, then he wouuld be miserable. It was a tough desicion, for sure. He wished he had his body back more than anything. Then this problem wouldn't exist, because no one ever messed with Rache when he was around.

His thoughts were interupted again, this time by the phone ringing. Rachael picked up. "Moore Detective Agency. Yes. Yes. Conan....it's for you." she handed the phone to him, staring for a moment, before leaving the room to do something or another. It was soon obvious why she'd stared. Doctor Agasa's voice came from the other end.

"Conan?"

"Oh. It's you. What is it?"

"We have a break. From a blood sample I took a few months ago, I may have a cure."

The boy couldn't hold in the surge of pure joy that emerged from this statement. He jumped up and gave a huge whoop of happiness. " Yes!! When can we try it?!"

"Tomorrow... I'll leave it on the doorstep for you, because I have a previous engagement. But Conan, you SHOULD know--"

"Gotta go... Rachael is nagging me to eat. Bye!!!" click. What Conan should have known would be a mystery until the next day for the child. His head swam as he all but inhaled his food. He'd forge a phone call from his parents to Moore, leave, and show up at Rachael's karate competition tomorrow. He grinned to himself. His problems were SOLVED.

_Don't worry, Rache. I'm coming home... you don't have to cry anymore..._

****

**MORE** **Author's Notes :** Well. That's fairly long for me... I'm proud of it. This fic, for the record, will be in 3 "Files", aka chapters. Sort of like a beginning, middle, and end. Yeah. Er... review. I feed off of your reviews and they make me write and stuff o.o; Also, if I get enough good feedback, I'll get off my bum and make you all...ILLUSTRATIONS... (-insert gasps here-). Yeah. Later gators. I've got pocky to consume, ear infections to complain about.

MWAH!

-Bunny


	2. File 2, Part 1

**Last Shot at Love**

**Author's Rumblings: **Whoot. I got like, 2 reviews in the first hour that the fic was up for. I fell asleep giggling at the cleverness of me! (I love Peter Pan so insanely much o.o;) So thanks for making me feel all special and such. And now, I respond to reviews!!

**Lady Starlight2: **Nope. Ya aren't worthy, are you? Hee. You get a muffin for being my first reviewer. Feel loved. And as for this "updating soon" you speak of, I'm going to try to get a file up every two days so I don't cut it too close to the horrors of starting the dreaded Highschool.

**Ember Mage: **You already know how much I love YOU. -wink- Anyways, for everyone else who has no clue who Dr. Araide was, he was a doctor and it appeared he and Ran (Rache) were in love. Conan got REALLY jealous. I used the same concept here. I'm sucha baddddd girl... The Doc and Joey will be defined as REALLY different shortly, though.

**Sirena: **Yeah. Rachael and Jimmy are adorable together? I just love toying with emotions, even if the people I'm toying with are fictional cartoon characters.

**Itzjustme: **-bow- Thank you. 'Nuff said. -hee- You get a bit of thread 'cause I ate all the muffins besides the one Starlight got and I gave you a really short response.

**Ginzo:** You're one of my best friends. You have to say that or I kill you XD

**Claddeh Ring**: Aw. I'm so loved an' stuff. Fwee. And you sound like me...? That's really scary. The world should now live in fear; there is a Bunny-like creature lurking about. As if one wasn't bad enough.

**foxfire22: **Yeah. I think I just might finish this one... this chapter here was done yesterday, but I didn't upload it until I left for the bookstore and was busy all the rest of the night with a spur of the moment sleepover.

Also, just for those who'd like to know, If I get enough good feedback off of this fic, I will try to get another one up. Don't expect it anytime _soon _however. I have exactly 10 days until highschool starts. I still have done virtually NO school shopping. Yeah. You get the picture. So review and maybe I'll be nice and make another Detective Conan fic for you.

I've decided that once I hit 10 reviews I'll draw, ink (Maybe...), and scan one illustration for you guys, so review people, review.

**Disclaimer:** I still haven't obtained the copyrights to Case Closed/Detective Conan. I have, however, gotten a mug of lukewarm tea and some j-pop put together to help me write.

**Last Shot at Love, File 2**

Conan had scarcely gotten ANY sleep all night...who could have? With the prospect of getting himself back to normal and surprising Rachael, he was so excited he was surprised he wasn't having some sort of seizure. He spent a good deal of the night staring at the ceiling and contemplating everything he was going to say. He, after all, needed something extremely suave and dashing to make Rachael forget she was mad and refrain from giving him a concussion. He had forged a call the night before informing the Moores that Conan's parents were going to be retrieving him early the next morning. Rachael had tucked him in on the couch so he would hear them knock... she had tried to stay up all night so she could bid him goodbye. Of course, he couldn't have that, so he used his trusty watch to give her a little push into dreamland. He felt sort of bad for doing that to her, but he had to. She couldn't very well watch him pull off his plan. At roughly 6:30 the next morning, he got up, dressed, and with a last glance at the sleeping Rachael, silently left the house. He rushed to Dr. Agasa's home, picking up the pill (it was on a small vial under the doormat, just as Agasa had said). Conan had to practice a good deal of will power not to pop it down then and there. He thought it would be a rather bad idea, however. He was in the clothes of a 7-year-old. If he took it now, he'd find himself stark naked... not to mention the fact that he had no clue as to if this was going to put him to sleep or not.

He walked quickly to his old home. _NORMAL home._ he reminded as he slipped inside. It was cold inside as well, so he turned on the heat, going and dressing into one of his typical Jimmy outfits. Plopping himself onto the couch, he stared at the vial for a moment, before salivating profoundly (he didn't have TIME to worry about getting a glass of water! It was nearly 8 as it was! Rachael's competition started at 10!!) and popping the blue capsule down. He sat there for a moment, before he felt it. It was a curious sensation. He stared to actually feel his bones growing and his flesh stretching to allow him to grow so quickly. It was at that particular moment that his body decided to go into sleep mode, reserving all energy for maintaining the boy's vital's and making this transformation work. Conan, or should I say JIMMY, awoke, first noticing that he took up the full couch. He grinned. It had WORKED. He was normal again!

Nothing could describe the rush of emotions that came next. He jumped up and began to dance in a carefree manor around the room, giving great whoops at random intervals and laughing his head off. After this subsided, he glanced at his watch. It was about 10:45. He stretched, yawning, before this hit him. 10:45?! He was LATE. He grabbed his scarf and coat, forgetting his gadgets all together. He didn't need them. Right? Right. He decided to neglect finding his car as well. The hall where the competition was being held wasn't far at all. He jogged, not wanting to exert himself yet... he had a full day ahead of himself. As he ran, he came up with what the case was over (some people were sniping in London and it was his job to find them.) and all the other details his childhood friend might ask about. He reached the hall within about 20 minutes... He nearly hit himself. What luck! Rachael was currently in the middle of a fight. She looked miserable...probably because her private cheering squad, aka Conan, wasn't there. He found a seat that she would see him from, before letting out a loud, "GO RACHE!!"

Rachael threw punch after kick after punch at her opponent, but she felt it just wasn't the same. She missed Conan too much to fight properly. She had already done much worse than usual and would be out of the competition if she lost this fight. And boy, this guy was tough! He was a lot bigger than her, for starters. And he was good. Real good. Her foot made contact with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and giving her a moment to gain her bearings. That's when she heard it. 'GO RACHE' echoed through her head, before she deemed, _No. That's impossible. He's away..._ and aimed another punch at his protected head. Not the best of plans, as his head WAS protected. Her knuckles went slightly red... ouch! She frowned, dodging a punch at her shoulder. She dropped down. She needed this fight over so she could just see. She needed to see... It was impossible, but she just HAD to see.

In dropping down, she found she had just opened her own opportunity. One swift flash of her leg, he was fallen like a tree and down for the count. Upon being signaled that this round was over, Rachael got up and looked around. Her heart almost stopped. Jimmy had since taken his place just over the small plexiglass "fence", and was smiling that smile of his. She blinked several times, as if trying to see if he was really there. Her mouth dropped, and she gaped, eyes wide. _How? Who CARES?! _were the first things that went through her mind. "JIMMY!!!" she squealed, rushing through a small gate and tackling him And when I say tackle, I mean TACKLE. Before Jimmy knew anything, he was on the ground, Rachael's arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her face buried in his chest. He coughed. He hadn't expected THAT. After a moment of being stunned, he just sort of rubbed her back. After roughly 30 seconds of pure clinging, Rachael got off, smiled, then whacked him over the head. "Jimmy Kudo! I can't believe you! You just LEFT without saying goodbye!! You creep!" she got up, stomping off with her head held high.

Jimmy smiled, rubbing his head. "Yep. Rachael is fine." he murmured to himself, finding a seat to watch her. She walked onto the mat again after about 20 minutes of other fights. Jimmy was shocked to see her opponent, however. Apparently she was too; She had a very confused look upon her face. It was none other than Joey... _Isn't he on her team? What's going on here?_ he thought. As if on cue, taking advantage of her stunned state, Joey pulled out a knife and grabbed Rachael, holding it to her neck. He smirked and yelled to the flabbergasted crowd. "You know who you are! Come rescue her, if you want to see her alive again!" with that, two other people, dressed in black and wielding guns, threw out a smoke screen and by the time it had cleared, they were gone.

Jimmy stood up, his breathing hard and ragged. _How'd they know?! How?!!_ He glanced around. He needed a plan, now. Well..undoubtably they'd contact him with threats on her life. He'd go home, think something up, and go rescue her. Yes. That's what he'd do. He tore off, but upon getting home, he found himself very sleepy...very sleepy indeed. He fell to the floor, his eyes closed.

He really should have listened to Dr. Agasa...

But the time he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the fact that he was swamped in extremely large clothes. He blinked furiously, looking around desperately, attempting to get his bearings. That's when it hit him, and he let out a loud groan. He was a mutchkin again. Terrific. He got to his feet blearily, cursing aloud. Of all the times... stupid Agasa. What had he been thinking?! This was probably some sick joke. Of all the times for _this_ to happen. He stood up, going to sit on his couch. He needed a plan now more than ever. But what was he to do? If he didn't show up in a certain amount of time, those creeps would kill Rachael without a second thought. If he just barged in, they'd both die. What to do... He got dressed in his child clothes, getting his watch and bow tie. He felt a great deal of remorse slapping that watch on...if he would have brought it to the competition, he could have shot the guys down and this wouldn't be happening. _Poor Rachael. She must be terrified..._ he frowned. This guilt trip wasn't going to help his thinking at all... He needed help. And with Professor Agasa out... The only people left were his fellow munchkins. _And Ai isn't here either. She left town on a lead about a cure last week... This is great._ He sighed heavily. He was going to have to rely on Amy, Mitch, and George to help him. He secured suspenders with care. You never knew when they would come in handy... He grabbed h is skateboard, too. He was going to need to zoom about quickly. After thinking for a moment, he decided to leave them out of this unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't want any more lives at risk.

As he sat down to think things through, he was interrupted for the second time by a phone ringing. He looked to it. _Wasn't the phone service here cut about 4 months ago?_ he stared at the device with apprehension for a moment, before picking it up gingerly, setting his bow tie to Jimmy's voice, and clicking on.

"Hello?"

**MORE rumblings: **Oooh! Cliffy! You all hate me, don't you. Yep... I know ya do. But don't despair. This is only part ONE of File 2. Yep. I've decided to break it into two...mostly because I'm about to go meet with some friends at a local bookstore XD I MAY have part 2 up as early as tonight, but don't get your hopes up. It will more than likely take me until tomorrow to get it up. Luff ya'll! REVIEW.

-Bunny


	3. File 2, Part 2

**Last Shot at Love**

**Hush, the One speaks!!: **Whooooo... this next chapter is going to suck. Why you ask? My best friend and I spent the night in a tent (it was COLD outside. **_COLD_**.) resulting in my getting roughly 4 hours of sleep last night. I'm also cranky because I missed Inuyasha. I did get s'mores though. That was spiffy. To top this off, I just got back from The Village. The adrenaline rush that I got from that is the only reason that I'm not snoozing right now. That and my gummi worms. I LOVE my gummi worms.

Now I respond. Respond, Bunny, respond.

**Demon Darkchild: **Wow. Now I feel special. Fwee for me XD

**Locked: **Dude...it's...it's LONG. It's really...long. And that sounded oddly wrong O.o; Yeah. Anyways. You have to say that because you're my friend and you know I'll get mad and refuse to roleplay with you if you said "This is stupid." Although, it did seemingly keep your attention. Wow. Mebbe it 'tis halfway decent. Yay for me.

**Lady Starlight2: **Awwww...lookit her dance. Dance, Lady, dance!!! Whoooooo...boy howdy. That was entertaining. Thank you for consistently reading. For this, you get a...er -looks around- tuft of fur from my doggie...? 's all fluffy an' stuff. ((Yesh. My dog is part collie so he doesn't shed. He just leaves this tuft things all over the house. My dog is as messed up as me.))

**Brandon Rice: **Wow ;;; -blush- I'm not that good, am I? Meh. Liar... oh well. This lie is nice. Carry on with the lying. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and giggly and stuff.

**Wishfulthinker22:** I am updating XD And yes. Yes, ear infections suck a lot. They make me make my sad face.

**Wouldn't you like to know:** I don't care who you are, so long as you review. I know the next chapter won't show... I'm thinking you have AOL? Yeah. Try via Internet Explorer. I've informed of the problem though. Hope it shows for you soon .

Gee Whiz. 10 whole reviews! ALL for the Bunny of Deathy-doom. I promise I will get you guys an illustration soon. I'm having a bit of an artist's block at the moment, however, so be patient. It may be all chibi-fied and stuff. Deal with it (You can not BELIEVE how hard the Detective Conan style is to replicate. The eyes are so. Effing. HARD. -falls over- meh.)

**Disclaimer:** Feh. What's with having to post all of these disclaimers? If I owned Detective Conan/Case Closed, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction. I could just boss people around to MAKE IT HAPPEN. Jeebus.

**Last Shot at Love, File 2, Part 2**

There was a silence on the other end, before a raspy voice chuckled. "Jimmy Kudo. Well, well, well. It IS a good thing we kept an operative watching over little Rachael then isn't it?"

Conan glared daggers at nothing in particular. This person was vile... he should have faked his own death. He just knew it. But then how would he explain coming back? 'Oh yeah. Rache, you know that Conan kid? Yeah. He was me. I was slipped a drug that made me into a kid.' THAT would be a one shot ticket to the looney bin. He realized he hadn't spoken for nearly 15 seconds, so he cleared his throat. "Where is she? I want to talk to her." he said firmly. He needed to be careful with this...

"In due time. Firstly, we want you to come down here for a little talk. We have an escort outside." said that raspy voice from the other end.

"First let me talk to Rachael." He needed to make sure she was still alive... that was common knowledge of anyone who had negotiated before.

"Fine, but only for a minute." the voice said huffily, like a child who lost a board game. Apparently they were being just as careful with this as he was. There was some scuffling and the sound of tape ripping off of something. There was also a loud 'OUCH!!' followed by even more scuffles. Finally, a girl's voice entered the receiver. Rachael's voice.

"Hello??" There was a definite note of desperation in her voice.

"Don't worry Rache. We're going to find you. Everything will be alright."

"Jimmy? Oh please come...please.... I'm--" But what she was Jimmy would more than likely never discover. The phone was jerked away, and the scuffling and struggling resumed in the background. The raspy voice returned.

"Come, Jimmy. She'll be dead by 4pm tomorrow if you don't come for her. It's 3:54 now." The phone clicked, followed by a dial tone. Conan stared at the floor, horrified. Rachael was going to die and it was his fault. This gave him roughly 24 hours to formulate some ingenious plan, pull it off, and cover it up somehow. And what did they mean by they had been watching Rachael? Had they figured it out? Or had they just looked into his background and found Rachael there? If they had, why hadn't they just pushed her into telling them? Well...she didn't know of course, but still. Maybe they had thought he was dead, but just wanted to be sure. Who knew. He didn't have time to wonder. He needed to find and get Rachael out of there. Now. He snuck upstairs (he was pretty sure he'd seen someone looking in the windows earlier.) and sunk onto a bed, dust flying everywhere. For starters, he needed to get out of his house without being seen. But how? The house was undoubtably being supervised and surrounded. The phone was probably being tapped too...He looked around. How could he do this? He couldn't very well tunnel out, and he couldn't just walk out. They'd figure out he was Jimmy and all his and Dr. Agasa's hard work would be in vain. But how could he get out? His head was beginning to hurt. He glanced out the window...it had started to snow, although it wasn't sticking to the roof, so it couldn't have been cold enough yet. That's when it hit him. He could sneak onto the roof, tie a couple of the window fire escapes together, and climb down the side where no one would be. Then he could climb Mr. Next Door's fence, and do the same for the next few houses. From there, he could find somewhere to hide out and use the phone until he could formulate a plan. He pondered as he fetched the needed escapes. _Now who lives closest that I know and they wouldn't be after._ He really didn't like the response he gave himself. _Amy. That's who._ Terrific. The love-struck midget was his only hope. He was quite fond of her in a friendly way, but that crush of her's was more than likely going to interfere. It was too cold outside, however, for him to walk all the way to Mitch or George's. And Agasa was gone. He couldn't take his skateboard either... it was too cloudy for that now, and the sidewalks were going to ice over, anyway.

The child sat down in a bathroom out of view of any windows, tying the needed rope ladders together carefully. Very carefully. After all, one bad knot and he would fall to his death. For a test, he shoved one end into a hall closet and pulled it taught, tugging with all his might. Everything was tight and secure. Time for phase two. He carefully wrapped himself up so as not to get sick. That was the last thing he needed. He also packed a backpack full of paperweights from his father's old study. Thankfully he had been a collector. After he was convinced he could pass even Rachael's strict expectations of clothing warmth, he climbed out onto the roof via a back window. He climbed to the gutter. All he could to was hope it would stick. He placed one end into the gutter, piling paperweights up onto it. He nervously put one foot, then another, then both hands onto the ladder. It held, but all the same he climbed down as quickly as possible. He also climbed the fence as fast as he could (it was a privacy fence... he was really thankful for those super stretch suspenders right about then) He had been correct in assuming the exits were being guarded..he could hear them from over the fence. He repeated the suspender process for the next several houses, reaching Amy's house within 20 minutes (he was running as fast as his scrawny little legs could carry him). He rung the doorbell, panting and feeling really hot but freezing all at once. A very curious sensation indeed. Amy opened the door and let out a squeal. The sort of squeal you let out when you were a child and your friend from down the street showed up on your doorstep.

"Conan!!" she cooed, ushering him inside. It was a nice house... clearly old, but still quite nice. It was furnished with older furniture, and looked vaguely like something you might find in an old cabin in the woods. Apparently her mother was making cookies, as the soft butter scent was wafting through the house. Amy was rushing around, grinning stupidly. "Come on... My mommy is making sweets! And I just got a Masked Yaiba tape!! We can watch it together. We have a fire going so we'll be all nice and warm!"

"Er...actually Amy, can we go to your room? I need to tell you something really important."

The child blushed furiously, nodding and leading him upstairs. Her room was what any typical first grade girl would have. It had pink wallpaper, stuffed animals, fluffy carpet, dolls, and a cute little twin bed. Posters bearing unicorns and various other pink things along with her loved Masked Yaiba were plastered over the walls. "So...what is it C-Conan?" she stuttered slightly. It was obvious she was expecting him to profess his undying love to her. Of course, that wasn't the case. He plopped down onto her bed, and she took a seat next to him. She got all starry eyed. Conan's gag reflex kicked in. He'd seen that look many a time from his fans. Being a soccer ace and the most well known male in your highschool defiantly had it's downsides. She was SEVEN. He was _SEVENTEEN_. Well, normally at any rate. He scooted back slightly before speaking.

"Now, I don't want you to scream or freak out, Amy. And you'll have to do exactly as I say, alright?"

She nodded, blinking. He certainly had an odd way of telling her his love burned for her like the intensity of a thousand white-hot suns... ((A/N: I couldn't resist stealing a quote from the Fairly Oddparents here. I just couldn't Please don't hit me ;; )) Oh well. To each his own, she supposed. She leaned foward slightly, batting those big, adorable eyes of hers. "Alright." she crooned softly. Conan scooted back again rather nervously. Clearing his throat, he resumed.

"We have a case. A real case. And I need your help. I can't tell you most of what's going on, but it involves someone being kidnaped and some really bad men. Will you swear upon," he glanced around the room for something of immense affection for Amy. " Masked Yaiba, to do exactly as you're told, not speak a word of this to anyone, and not ask any questions?" She blinked again. Okay. He didn't admit it...he would. In the meantime, she had something just as good. A real life case!! How neat was that?? She nodded hard, her hair flying around her face, grinning.

"Tell me, Conan?? What's going on? How can I help?!" He watched her tremble out of excitement. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Then again, what kind of choice did he have? If he left it to the police Rachael would undoubtably die.

"Okay. A girl has been taken by a crime ring. It's our job to rescue her. Are you following me?" Amy nodded again. "Good. First, we have to figure out where they are. Then we'll sneak in, get the girl, and sneak out before they notice we're there." he nodded absently. Now if he could fill in the blanks of how to with those three things, they'd be in good shape. Amy stared before mimicking him. She didn't know why they were nodding, but it made her feel important and smart. Conan's intelligence blew her mind. Most kids her age would go hide under the bed if they heard someone had been kidnaped. But not Conan. That's why she thought she liked him so much. He was so brave and smart... She leaned foward again. She really shouldn't have done that. Within a moment, there was a loud thud and a soft sob emitted from the Amy. She had leaned foward so far she just fell clear off the bed. Conan gave a forced sort of smile. _What kind of partnership did I just get myself into??_

**She speaks AGAIN!!:** Hah. I couldn't resist that last bit. You lucky bums. 2 chapters put up in under 24 hours. The last chapter may take me a while, and I may have to split it in two like I did with this one. I need to formulate a definite plan myself XD Anywho. In your reviews you can post suggestions for illustrations. I myself am thinking of going with the ending scene here. It made me chuckle to myself. Yeah. O.o; Review. I'll make another bit of art for you guys once I get 20 reviews. Later losers! -poof-


	4. File 3

**Last Shot at Love**

**(This was written yesterday. So boo)**

**She's working on the picture:** Wow. I woke up really early this morning to Pokemon. I figured it was a sign, 'cause there was this little kid that looked a little like Conan. Maybe I'm still just halfway asleep... Well, at any rate, I have a diet coke, some music (yay for Vengaboys and J-pop!!), and a whole lot of insomnia induced writing...goo? Yeah. Writing goo sounds neat. Like it came from Invader Zim. I have Penny, The lucky piggy to help me, too. And now i'll talk to all my reviewers 'cause I'm nice like 'at.

**Nittle Grasper Fan Joshie: **I won't even ask about the name, despite how oddly dirty it sounds. And that illustration would be cute. I actually got the concept art for it done last night. It's as kawaii on paper as it is in words -falls over twitching from sheer overload of cute-

**Kitsune 55:** Aw. And ruin any sequels that I might make for this? No way. Mebbe later. Plus, isn't it more fun to watch the turmoil? And I'm mad at you. Your review for chapter three reminded me of the horrors of Love, Actually. Alan Rickman. Snogging. -shiver- I've watched the Harry Potter movies way too many times _not_ to feel really sick about that.

**Yoh's Girl:** O.o; -cough- 's long. It's really, really long. I mean, that's longer than my pet rat's tail. Both of their tails ((Yesh. I have two pet rats who I love wholeeeee bunches -cuddles Lily and Meiko- Who're my girliesssss???)) Not really. Their tails are much longer. XD But that review is still the official longest I've gotten thus far. You get a sticker as a prize. And thanks for all the ideas XD I may just use one or two in my fic. However, dun get your hopes up about a really mushy kissy scene in the future. The end will be REALLY fluffy, but I don't think it'll involve Jimmy. Not much, anyways. You'll all have to deal with that. If I do get enough people nagging me about it, though, I may write a short, cute little Jimmy/Rache fic that involves so much fluff, you'll suffocate in it. Maybe. I'll have to obtain more pocky, cookies, and a whole buncha gatorade. Or powerade. But mostly gatorade. Oh...and apparently I've found a fellow Shaman King dork. I salute you. Wow. Lookit how long my response is. Ha. Now we're even.

Feh. You're all 1 review away from ANOTHER picture. I'm going to have to be a drawin' fool for the next few days, aren't I? -lesigh- Keep suggesting picture ideas. I'll need it. Anything you can think of (besides kissing. I don't do kissing well at all ..; Not with anime... realism I can do... I'm not really good at hugging or sitting, either) is welcomed. Stuff from the fic or just junk you come up with in your empty heads is allllll fair game.

**Disclaimer:**... People, I'm running out of witty and sarcastic remarks for these. You all ought to know that I don't own Detective Conan/Case Closed. Not yet anyways.

And now, I write!

**Last Shot at Love, File 3**

**Meanwhile...**

Rachael struggled furiously at her binds in her corner. The poured cement floor was making her sore and cold, and listening to these people was making her feel sick. That's all she could do...listen. They had her blindfolded, gagged, and bound. All she could really accomplish was wiggling around and making a series of muffled, angry noises. It didn't get her far, but it made her feel considerably better.

"...then we torture him by drownin' the girly real slow like in front of him. Then we beat him up real bad and then we kill him." one of the thugs in black was saying. "Joey" was sitting, playing a handheld game of sorts. It looked like solitaire. The other thug shrugged.

"I think we get the kid, nab him, hold his hands and make him strangle her. Then we says to him 'you killed her' while we kill 'im." He glanced at the squirming girl, giving her a toothy grin. Well, a not so toothy grin, actually. Although she couldn't see it, Rachael

still had a cold chill speed up her spine. She shuddered, abandoning her struggle for a moment to allow the hairs to quit raising. Joey paused his game, sighing and glowering at his comrades.

"I don't care HOW you kill them. Just make sure they don't get away, or i'll kill both of you myself." The two men gulped, glancing at each other, nodding to him, before resuming conversation.

"That's real original like." thug number one commented, stretching a tattoo on his lower arm for amusement. "I think that's what we should do. We make him choke her 'till she turns purple." At this, Rachael resumed struggling with new strength, her noises even louder than before. Joey glared, pausing his game again.

"Make her shut up... I have some chloroform over there. Soak a rag and knock her out." The screech of chairs moving reached the girl's ears, and she promptly ducked her head to her chest. It didn't save her, though. Within the minute, she had a rag to her face. Her thoughts became blurred...

**Back at Amy's house...**

Amy got back up, rubbing her head, mumbling 'ouch'. Conan put on his thinking face, pondering. Shortly there after, Amy's mother called them down for cookies. As the children nibbled happily at the warm, gooey treats, Conan continued to think, eyes darting around the room. He needed a plan badly. He was confident he could find where they were, it was just a matter of getting how to get Rachael out of this. He didn't have much to work with. He was roughly three feet tall and his only partner was a love struck seven-year-old. That's when he saw it. Lying on the coffee table... Amy's Junior Detective League walkie-talkie. That gave him an idea about how to get their attention long enough to get Rachael out. He glanced at his watch. It was almost 6pm. That gave them about an hour and a half of daylight. He smirked, finishing his cookie. "Amy, when is your curfew?"

She blinked. "Well. Mommy calls me inside when the streetlights come on so I can take a bath and eat dinner before bedtime. Why?" Conan just closed his eyes in thought. The lamps came on at about 7:15... So they had an hour before Amy was needed home. He definitely needed her for his plan to work, and he wanted Rachael out of there before it got dark. They said 4 tomorrow, but you could never be safe. Each passing minute decreased her chances of coming out alive. Conan jumped off the couch where they'd been eating, walking into the kitchen. Amy's mother was placing another batch of cookies onto a plate to cool. She was a pretty woman. Amy looked a lot like her. He tugged her apron gently.

"Mrs. Yoshida? Is it alright if Amy comes over to my house to play for a while? I don't live far at all and I'll bring her right home when it starts to get dark."

She smiled. "Of course, Conan. Just have her home by...7:30, okay? That gives you guys a whole hour and a half." He nodded, smiling sweetly.

"Thank you, Mrs. Yoshida!!" With that, he dashed into the living room, grabbing Amy's walkie-talkie and putting it in his backpack (along with the paperweights, he'd packed his skateboard and walkie-talkie as well). "Amy. Go bundle up. I have a plan." She didn't question him. That had been part of the deal, after all, returning shortly clad in a coat, snow boots, long pants, mittens, and a hat. She'd be warm enough, he thought. He couldn't have her getting cold. It could foil his entire plan. He lead her outside, going to Amy's small garden and picking up five or six good sized rocks, handing them to Amy. "Hold on to those. We'll need them later." The child shoved them into her pockets. She still didn't know what was going on here, but she trusted Conan. He'd never lead her and her friends badly before. He walked back near his house, stopping Amy quickly. He really didn't think that they knew he was Jimmy when he was in this state, but who knew? Time for phase one. "Amy. I need you to walk past, drop this walkie talkie into that bush there, then walk off. Wait for me to signal you, then run back, grab it, then follow me, okay?" she shrugged, nodding, and executing her task without a hitch. She turned the corner ahead, peering around, waiting.

Conan hid from view, turning on his walkie talkie, getting his bow tie out and setting it to Jimmy. "Hey. You. Yeah you. I will provide my own transportation. Yes, I know where you're hiding." He could hear the men who'd been set on watch jump up, looking around dumbly. He stifled a snicker. "Get into that bucket you call a car and go tell your boss to be expecting me within the hour." Thankfully, these weren't the sharpest tacks in the box, and they did as they were told. As they got into their car and started off, Conan signaled Amy and took off after them. He only hoped he could keep up...he had reason to believe that they were close to where Rachael's karate tournament had been held. He had only slept for about an hour when they called, and Rachael sounded desperate. If she had just gotten there, she would have been snappy and firey still. Amy panted but kept up well enough.

Conan's theory had been correct. They were hiding in an old, unstable looking storage shed. He waited behind some dead brush for Amy, who came bounding down moments after he got there, panting. She extended the walkie talkie to him, plopping down, her chest heaving. He smiled. _Good job, Amy. Couldn't do it without you._ He peered around the side, watching where they got in and looking at windows. This was going to be a bit more difficult that he thought. He was still confident in himself, however. He was, after all, the great Jimmy Kudou. This would still work well, though. The shed was against a chain link fence and very low. It had several cracked windows, as well. More than likely for ventilation of some sort.

"Amy, how well can you climb?"

**No. Really. She's not reading comics instead...:** HAH! I fooled you ALL. Yes. It's SHORT. I know that. I'm fishing for reviews. I'm so mean. Actually, this is so I can have a break from all this typing to play with my rats and prepare for orientation tonight. I do know EXACTLY how all of this is going to work out. There will be a very feel good moment at the end, so for those fluff-heads -nudges Yoh's girl- you'll be pleased. Maybe not quite the mush you desire, but it will still make you smile dumbly and go "awwwww". I'ma go draw, too. That's another reason I'm waiting to finish. This allows me to have somewhere to post the link to the lovely picture that I'm working on! I will check periodically for new suggestions throughout the day. Put some thought into them, too. If I like two ideas enough, I'll draw both XD yeah.

Oh. And thug number one is dedicated to Allison and Elisha XD He sounds a lot like Rasputin, dun 'ee?...everyone else disregard this message entirely. Inside joke.

This idea was egged on by Yoh's Girl. She gets a tuft of my doggie's fur for giving me inspiration.


	5. File 4

**Last Shot at Love**

**Make her shut up: **And she's back again. Whooooo. Firstly, I'd like to say that the flashback-dream that Rachael has in this chapter was made from a picture from the anime (I've seen it, I think o.o;) and the elaborations made by Nikoru in _Photographic Memories_. You all need to go read and review her fic, because it's AWESOME. -cuddles Nik for letting her use it-. Yeah. So I made up some of that stuff. But the outline was provided by Nikoru... Wellsies. I have mah chicken fried rice, mah soy sause, and mah diet coke. I'm all set -cracks her knuckles- 's writin' time. I got a really weird fortune cookie..."Happiness will bring you good luck." What. The. Crap? Anyways. And Yoh's Girl. You'll be REALLY pleased with this chapter. REALLY pleased XD

**Lady Starlight2:** Ha! She reviews AGAIN. I'm loved. -cuddles her black lab- And yes. The Village rocked my socks. -wiggles her fingers- shpookyyyyy.

**The Liz: **Well, if I divulged THAT I might just spoil mah fic. You'll know. Soon. I hope ..; This is already longer than I had planned on.

**Ember Mage:** I know. I feel so bad for Amy. But she's so cute to mess with. As for Joey's code name... I was thinking Whiskey... Pina Colada sounds too girly.

**Claddeh Ring: **Whee. Useless information is fun.

**Wishfulthinker22: **Dun rule out the cheese, dearheart. You never know. Cheese is awful sneaky like that.

**Brandon Rice:** Meh. Regular Pepsi scares me... I drink Diet Coke XD

**Ember Mage**: Well, I thought long and hard about that too. I thought that, because she was a bit stunned for that sole moment, that she wouldn't react as quickly. By the time she would have gotten her mind cleared enough to fight back, there was a knife pressed firmly to her throat, leaving her with very few movements that wouldn't slice her head off XD

**Fire Inu: **Dun wet your pants, lovvie.

**Nittle Grasper Fan Joshie: **Ah. I see now. My head normally isn't in the gutters like that, but cha know. 6 days left to highschool can kinda do that to you. Although my school is spiffy. My anthropology teacher is nice, I get to take a FIELD TRIP to Belize, we have a really neat little courtyard, and I'm going to get to switch from Business Principals to Forensic Science.... Spiffy, eh? XD Now i'm babbling. As for the picture, I don't watch/play Megaman, so I'm sort of up a creek without a paddle. My friend watches, however, so maybe I'll bother him. Or I could just replace the corpse with a passed-out-because-he-drank-too-much-Richard.

**Kitsune55: **Two words explain why I'm ticked for you reminding me of Love, Actually. You know the guy who plays Snape? Yeah. Here are the words: "Snape. Snogging". A lot. I'm traumatized for life. And as for Richard? He's looking with the police for his daughter, of course. They're looking in all the wrong places, though. I had that planned out very carefully, in fact. I was wondering when someone would notice!

**XSasukeRebornX: **Short and sweet.

**Mackenzie Leigh: **I'm killing you, huh? Mebbe I should wait a bit, then. I've always wanted my very own dead corpse that died of my own doing XD -note: No. Not even I want to really kill people. So mum, do you DARE call that quack. She was scary ..; -

**OHHHHH!!! AWWWWW!!! It's ugly: ** That's right. Illustration numero UNO is here. It's the kawaii little picture that was SUGGESTED. See... I messed up on it badly. Deal with it XD It's still cute as heck. For the link, email or AIM TaylorE97. I'd put it up here, but the link wont show. If you have a photo host that this place supports, please let me know XD

I even made up a caption! **Conan: _This is SO degrading._**

Yes. I do put thought into these things XD Suggestions for number 2 an' 3 will be greatly appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. I still don't own Dectective Conan/Case Closed. I don't even own the computer that I'm typing on. But I will. I **WILL**.

**Last Shot at Love, File 4**

**Meanwhile...**

Rachael felt her consciousness slip. The girl fell to the floor, leaving the thugs back to their devices. They went back to the table, going back to their -deep- conversation. Rachael, however, had something of a flashback...

_10 years ago..._

_"RACHE! C'mere! I got you an ice cream!" a young Jimmy Kudou called in a boasting type voice, presenting her with the chocolate cone. The 8-year-old slid down the slide, running up to him and accepting it with a smile, giving it a quick lick. She paused, ruffling his hair in attempts to get the remaining sand from earlier that day out._

_"Where's yours at?"_

_"I didn't have enough, so I just got you one." he hung his head like a war hero. Rachael smiled and offered it to him._

_"I know. We'll share it. That way we both get some!"_

_"Yeah! And we'll be spit brother and sister!!" he added with new resolve, licking the cool treat as if to emphasize this fact. She too, took a lick, grinning at her best friend. If you were an onlooker, you would have thought the two had been together since infancy rather than just since the start of this school year. Best friends right from the start, they were. It was something like you'd see in a movie how they met. Only reversed. Jimmy was intelligent for his age and envied by his classmates for his skills on the soccer field. However, overall, he was a rather frail child. He was getting beaten up on the playground before teachers arrived one morning, when out of seemingly no where, a young girl by the name of Rachael Moore came over and whacked the bullies over the head with her lunch box, scolding them for being so stupid and mean. Instant friendship. _

_Jimmy grinned. "I now onounce us brother and sister." he declared. Rachael smiled back, giggling. _

_To be continued..._

**Back outside...**

"I can climb good... why?" Amy asked, her cheeks regaining their normal state; they'd been flushed from all this cold and running.

"Can you climb onto the fence, then onto the roof? Really quietly?" She nodded in response, getting up. Conan held out an arm. "Not yet. See that door? I want you to sit right over it. When I give you a thumbs up, I want you to throw one rock at the door. When it opens, I want you to drop the rest of the rocks on top of the people who come out. Now wait for my signal. If something happens to me, hide, run home, and call the police." Amy smiled, nodding harder. Conan got up from his perch, rushing over silently to the house, looking around at all the rubbish lying in the un-trimmed grass. He picked up an old paint can that was handy, standing upon it and peering carefully into a window. His stomach clenched at what he saw. Rachael was knocked out in a corner. Scratches and bruises lined what was visible through her uniform. Two beefy men were sitting at a small table, discussing what appeared to be methods of strangulation. And then there was HIM. "Joey", sitting in a wooden chair playing a game of some sort. Conan crouched down back into the tall grass, pulling out one walkie talkie. He plucked a piece of grass, tying the "enter" button down. He needed to listen to them just as much as he needed them to listen to him. He stood up, carefully putting it through the window and behind a series of old boxes. He waved furiously at Amy, before running back to their previous hiding place. He removed his suspenders and got out his other walkie talkie and skateboard.

She preformed her task, yet again, without a hitch. She lay on her stomach, her rocks all laid out. Ready for action. Now was were this got tricky. And dangerous. The police could wait to be called. They undoubtadly had nearly ever squad car roaming about looking for Detective Moore's child. It would take them only a few minutes to get here. And he couldn't very well have them getting here too early. That almost certainly sealed Rachael's fate. He cleared his throat, pulling his bow tie out, setting it to Jimmy's voice. With one last nervous sigh, he spoke into it. "Hiya, guys."

The criminals glanced around furiously. The thugs put up their fists stupidly, getting to their feet, while Joey stood gracefully, glaring about. " Where are you, kid?!" he snapped.

"Nope. Answer a few of my questions first. What did you knock Rachael out with?"

"What the HELL!?! Search the place, boys!!" The sound of things being knocked over, doors and cabinets being thrown open, etc, flooded through the speaker of Conan's walkie-talkie. When they stopped, Conan could only assume their ripping their hiding place apart had proven fruitless.

"Having a hard time? You could always just say "Ollie-ollie-oxenfree" and turn yourself in to the cops."

"No way. Get out here and face me you little brat. Get out here and we'll let your little girlfriend go." There was a definite note of concern and worry lacing the ringleader's voice.

"I don't think so. I'm happy right where I am." Conan responded cooly. There was the unmistakable click of a gun being cocked. The child felt his lungs contract, his eyes getting wide. This was getting dangerous.

"Get out here right now or I'll blow her brains out."

"Fine, fine..." Conan gave a thumbs up to his waiting friend, who threw a rock at the door. To the people inside, it sounded like a knock. "Joey" grinned, his thugs getting on either side of the door. While this happened, Conan rigged his earring cell phone to his ear, placing a call to the police. Only a few minutes to work with now. The door flew open. The thugs landed on their stomachs from attempting to tackle the nonexistent Jimmy, "Joey" standing dumbly there, a pistol in his hands. Amy dropped her rocks swiftly. With three loud thuds, each crook was knocked out. As a safety measure, Conan shot three little needles to keep the group out like lights. He dashed into the shed, yelling a quick, "Get away from here!" to Amy. He kneeled by Rachael, checking her vitals. She'd be okay. Shaken and a bit sick, but alright. He smoothed the hair gingerly from her face before getting to work.

**Back in dreamland...**

_"Alright, brother Jimmy. What should we do now?" she inquired, taking another lick, nibbling the cone thoughtfully. She handed him the cone, pushing a few stray bits of hair from her face. She had had her mother tie her dark locks into pigtails secured with ribbons. This wasn't just ANY play date, after all. For starters, they were basically alone (Their mothers were having a book club meeting just over the hill on a blanket) and she was with her very best friend. She'd worn her favorite shirt and skort, as well._

_"I know sister Rachael! I'll push you on a swing and see how high I can make you go!" Rachael agreed, smiling broadly. Jimmy always had an idea. They finished their ice-cream before heading over to the empty swing set. The whole playground was empty...it was getting late, after all. And it was a Saturday. Parents had better things to do than take their children to the park on an evening like this. Jimmy pushed the girl for what seemed like hours to her, but only minutes for him. She giggled, talking to him and commenting on how she could see their mothers when he pushed them high enough. They stopped in time to sit down on the wooden separators which kept the mulch in the play area and watch the sunset. And what a sunset it WAS. Pinks, oranges, golds, and blues cascaded dramatically over the sky as the grapefruit pink sun set down over the horizon. Jimmy's hand found Rachael's as they watched in sheer awe. They glanced at each other, slowly leaning towards one another, falling into their first kiss... They broke apart shortly after, staring at each other with half opened eyes for a moment, before going wide-eyed and whipping their heads into the opposite direction of the other, yanking their hands away and crossing their arms tightly. With a unison of "BLECH!", their mothers came to take them home for supper and bed._

**Back to real-life...**

Conan finished strapping the girl to his skateboard with his stretchy suspenders, wheeling her quickly out. She stirred slightly, mumbling something, before saying it again, louder. "Jimmy..."

The boy felt his heart skip a beat as he carefully unstrapped her, laying her angelically out, running to join Amy in their hiding place. Within mere moments, the police arrived. The children couldn't see them, but when they heard a satisfying, "We have her!!", the smiled at each other.

"Who was it, anyway?" Amy asked, rubbing her hands together for warmth. Conan shrugged, a soft smirk tugging at his lips as he watched the ambulance and police cars speed away from the scene.

"An angel," he responded quietly.

"Ooohhh... We saved a ANGEL." Amy cooed happily.

"Yep. An angel." He said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a smile.

**She's babbling again...:** Hmn. I just can't decide. I have an idea for another chapter, but this could be called an ending. I'll just let the reviewers decide XD Review for another illustration AND another chapter. -wiggles her fingers- hee. I demand 45 reviews before I type any more. My arms and hands are getting sore from all this writing XD


	6. Bonus Chapter

**Last Shot at Love**

_The bonus bridge_

**Attention puhlease!: **You all asked for it, so here it is. One extra chapter in Last Shot at Love. I've decided to use it as a bridge to really link Last Shot at Love to it's sequel (Yes. SEQUEL.), "One Step Closer, Two Steps Back". I know I'm going to get flooded with people asking me about it now, so I'll just put it this way. I will have chapter one out before the 17th when I go back to school. After that, I don't know when I'll update and how long the chapters will be. I'll have to see how long my bus route takes, how much homework I'm assigned, and just how much of a toll the transition takes on me. I wont be answering reviewers in this chapter... sorry, guys!! I love the lot of you, but I just dun wanna type all that out in for such a short chapter!! 's a bonus, anyways.

I know you'll all hate me for bringing in a certain character in this chapter. I saw him recently in the anime, however, and couldn't think of a better antagonist!!

**_READ THIS:_** Considering the fact that I have not gotten a bajillion emails and IMs begging me to send you guys illustration one, I'm assuming you didn't read the message yesterday. I do have illustration one scanned and uploaded. I just cant put the link here -kicks So, if you want to see it plus talk to the author, contact me via email at or you can AIM me at TaylorE97. I do have MSN, but I'm never on. SO...

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Detective Conan/Case Closed... although I do own two spiffy pet rats.

**Last Shot at Love, The Bonus Bridge**

After the ordeal of being kidnaped, Rachael made a full recovery at home. Conan worked his way back into the Moore's home via some smooth talking on his and Dr. Agasa's part. For the next few months, all was well until HE showed up. And that he happened to be Harley Hartwell. He had just shown up on the Moore's doorstep one day about two months after all of that looking for Jimmy. A huge mess followed, of course, and Harley had went home. But, upon school being out a month later, he was back, with more determination than ever.

Harley yawned hugely as Rachael walked Conan up to the local ice cream parlor. She glared at him over her shoulder. Honestly. He'd been tailing her for over a week now, confident that if he followed long enough, he'd find Jimmy wherever he was hiding. He was really taking it too far, though. She'd caught him craning over her while she slept, once. She whacked him over the head and quite literally threw him from her room. She could only assume he'd learned his lesson. God, she loved karate.

Another thing that really ticked her was how he was always hovering over Conan, like he knew something just because he was Jimmy's cousin. If anything, Conan knew less. Jimmy didn't call Conan like he called her. Which lead her to her third pet peeve involving Harley: The fact that he would not DROP the "He so loves you" thing. Jimmy and her were best friends; enough said. Even if she harbored stronger feelings than just friendship, she knew Jimmy wouldn't. Jimmy was too smooth for that. She really couldn't picture her childhood companion in love. It just didn't fit with his personality. Although, she had to admit she sort of enjoyed Harley's company. No matter how much she despised him, he reminded her of Jimmy, and in that sense, she wanted to spend every waking moment with the boy to see just how much he was like her friend.

Conan despised Harley as much if not more than Rachael for obvious reasons. He not only hated him for being so cocky, but he was sure he'd caught Harley LOOKING at Rachael. In that "hm. She's kinda cute" way. That really made his blood boil. Rache could not fall for this creep. He wouldn't stand for it.

The girl opened the glass door for Conan, a soft bell jingling to alert the staff of their presence. She bought Conan his ice cream, getting a chocolate cone for herself. Harley bought ice cream as well, sitting down next to Rachael at the "bar" they were sitting at. She glared. "Do you mind? It's not like I invited you along. This is for Conan doing so well on his end of term test!" Rachael normally didn't fuss and snap like that, but she REALLY didn't like Harley. Or did she? She really couldn't tell, but he annoyed the hell out of her when he was like this.

"Aw, cool it _toots_." he said calmly, licking at his own cone. You could just SEE Rachael bristle at this. That. Creep. She refrained from hitting him, however. She didn't like to expose Conan to that. He already saw death; She refused to expose him to violence, too. She thought for a moment, before smirking. "Hey Harley. What's that over there?" she pointed behind the counter, and as he got up to investigate, she got Conan up and tore off out the door with him, both laughing.

"Later, _HON_." she called behind herself as she and her charge ran off. _'Ats my girl_. Conan thought with a smirk as Harley's angry cries echoed out behind them.

**Notes and junk: **Yep. It sucks. It's short and poorly written. Drop me a line, guys. I'd love to hear from my legions of fans XD Also, if you guys talk to me, I'll inform you as soon as One Step Closer is up.


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